JOY FOR THE JOURNEY #12, CHRISTMAS BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

My wife and I love reading and re-reading our hundreds of beautiful Christmas cards. This one grabbed my attention immediately. It has all the elements of a warm Christmas greeting – a photo of a beautiful baby boy, the words MERRY CHRISTMAS, and the word JOY even had a lovely Christmas wreath, with Lights, for the letter ‘O.’

But it was the unique message that made me smile. Little Evan’s smile is contagious. And his eyes are just dancing with JOY. In addition to wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS, along with his Dad, Chris and his Mom, Holly, it’s as if he just can’t wait to tell us some wonderful news.

And then the wonderful news on his little shirt smacked me right in the heart. Evan is going to be a Big Brother! What an absolutely and genuinely creative way to make a Christmas birth announcement.

Of course, there’ll have to be a Reveal Party later where everyone will learn the name of Evan’s little sister or little brother. And all the people invited would bring gifts. That’s the modern way of building suspense for the big day. And what you wanna wager that the Reveal Announcement will be equally as creative as the birth announcement?

The joy of Evan’s Christmas birth announcement is only surpassed by another one made 2017 years ago by an angel named Gabriel, a messenger sent from Heaven to a young teenage girl named Mary in a little town called Nazareth. And His announcement was stunning!

According to the shocked Mary, she was going to have a baby Boy. And His name was already chosen. No reveal party necessary. His name would be JESUS and He would be great. In fact, He’s the reason for our season of celebration. Wise men also brought Him gifts. But all He really wants is to live in our hearts.

Here’s a challenge and a promise. First the challenge. Take Evan’s JOY and multiply it by a million. Then every day till next Christmas, read the rest of Gabriel’s Christmas Birth Announcementin Luke 1:31-33.

Editor’s Note: If the Lord leads you, through prayer, to help spread JOY FOR THE JOURNEY to our joy-less world, please consider being either a Founding Partner or a Sustaining Partner (or both). Make your check payable to Freeman Martin, write the word ‘JOY’ on the memo line, and mail to Freeman Martin, 310 Andrew Pickens Dr., Seneca, SC 29678.